Tough Mudder

Established: 2010.
Locations: 53.Find A Race Near You
A grueling 12-mile battlefield that involves tackling 32 challenges, Mudder is no walk in the park ... unless that park was, um, 12 miles long and filled with 32 traps, then it would be pretty similar. Read More About Tough Mudder ...

From fireman themes to a water park turned into an obstacle course ... From 5Ks to full blown marathons ... Mud runs just continue to get more and more popular.

Events with one or two locations across the nation exploded into every state. Established obstacle courses started going global. All over the country, a movement of people looking to break out of the ordinary routine broke into the extraordinary experience of getting down and dirty.

And a beer at the end of every race didn't hurt.

Check out the slideshow for a rundown of our (current) favorite mud runs in the obstacle course landscape.

1. Increase lower leg flexibility

Try this test: With your feet pointing straight ahead with your toes and heels a few inches apart, squat down as far as you can—try to lower your butt to the back of your heels. Any tightness you feel in the muscles in your shin and calf translates to extra tension on your Achilles. Work out the kinks by rolling your calf muscle over the bar of a plate-loaded barbell, and rolling your shins (focusing on the muscle next to the bone, not the bone itself) on a foam roller or rumble roller.

When we watched five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant fall with an Achilles rupture, it wasn't that the injury itself seemed so surprising. More shocking was how it happened -- not by a jump shot or a leaping rebound, just a simple push-off step while dribbling past a defender.

Bryant said as much on his highly shared Facebook rant, apparently written from his hospital bed later that evening. "All the training and sacrifice just flew out the window with one step that I've done millions of times!" Bryant wrote.

The fact is, as a 34-year-old male professional athlete, Bryant is in the unfortunate sweet spot to suffer an Achilles rupture. Men are five times more likely to blow out their Achilles than women, according to the Mayo Clinic. You're also at your highest risk between the ages of 30 and 50, says orthopedic surgeon Brian Donley, M.D., president of the Cleveland Clinic's Lutheran Hospital. "At that point, your Achilles has seen a lot of wear and tear, but you’re still young enough to be participating in active, aggressive sports," Donley says.

Most ruptures occur in a 1 1/2-inch section of the Achilles where blood flow is the weakest and your body is least able to repair small tears to the collagen fibers inside the tendon, Donley says. "You still need sufficient force at the right place and the right time to blow out the biggest tendon in your body," says Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S, co-owner of Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training. As we saw with Kobe, where he scored 34 points and played all 45 minutes of the game before the injury happened, you'll likely feel no pain or have any warning that it's about to blow.

But don't take that to mean an Achilles rupture is inevitable. "Unequivocally, it's completely preventable," says Kelly Starrett, D.P.T, the author of Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance. Take these steps to help prevent a blowout:

MORE FROM THE WEB

The Electronic Ab Exerciser

What this was: A machine that would send electric currents to your abs, making them contract and release, thus causing you to burn off body fat.

Why it was doomed to fail: Losing body fat requires a combination of cardiovascular exercise and a reduced-calorie diet. You cannot spot reduce to lose weight. The body burns fat according to its genetic predisposition, so the only way to burn fat off is by doing the work yourself. A machine won’t do it for you.

Ultimate fate: The Electronic Ab Exerciser was quickly found to be unsuccessful; people soon realized this quick fix was nothing more than a waste of time, money and electricity.

Great ideas come and go. While the really good ones stick around, more often than not, fitness trends fall by the wayside. It can be quite hard to tell the difference between fad and fitness, so we often spend time, effort and money on something that doesn't do what it claims to do. Read on so you are not fooled by the scams you think are fitness facts.

Cordarrelle Patterson (Vikings)

Positive points for being one of the few in this draft class to really stand out, and of course, we're suckers for suspenders. But haven't we seen Kanye rocking a similar tux top and more casual bottom look lately? Perhaps you want to look into his role models more deeply.

Sure, as football fans and reporters, we watched the NFL draft with anticipation of which teams will make good picks, risky ones and ones that cause entire cities to simultaneously boo. But as with most great events, there's one other part of the show that can't be ignored: The fashion. So without further ado, we present the best and the worst of what seemed to be a very well dressed 2013 first-round draft class.

Flooding and landslides in Mount Rainier National Park

As the climate changes, moderate rain has turned into frequent and intense downpours that have increased the likelihood of flooding, especially in Mount Rainier National Park, where 18 inches of rain fell in 36 hours in November 2006. The debris flows and floods from the storm destroyed trails, damaged campgrounds, and severed power lines, causing the park to close for six months, a time when about 170,000 people normally would have visited. According to the Park Service, the heavy rainfall "changed the landscape of the park forever."

Imagine Joshua Tree National Park without the Joshua trees; Glacier National Park without the glaciers; or the Everglades without ... the Everglades.

Sound far fetched? It isn't.

Climate change is reshaping our planet, and while we don't yet know everything it will have in store for us in the coming century, we do know that sea levels are rising, the planet is heating up and fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce in much of the world.

This is bad news for our national parks. In the words of National Park Service director Jon Jarvis, "I believe climate change is fundamentally the greatest threat to the integrity of our national parks that we have ever experienced."

In honor of Earth Day, we picked 11 parks that may be irreparably altered by climate change if nothing is done to stop its advance. The list is drawn from a joint 2009 report by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Sadly, these predictions haven’t changed in the last four years.

MORE FROM THE WEB

How college players perform in workouts after their college career often has just as much (if not more) bearing on their draft stock as their college careers themselves. But unlike Brian Urlacher or Chris Johnson, many other "workout wonders" have failed to deliver in the NFL. We rank the NFL Draft's Top Workout Warrior Busts.

7. Matt Jones (2005)

After spending four years as Arkansas' starting quarterback, Jones had scores of draft pundits -- among them ESPN's Chris Mortensen -- gushing about the physical potential he possessed as a converted receiver/H-back.

It's easy to see why Jones was referred to as "The Freak." The 6-foot-6, 242-pounder turned in a gaudy combine performance: 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash, a 39.5-inch vertical leap and a 10-foot, 9-inch broad jump.

Jacksonville surprised many by drafting him 21st overall, only to watch Jones start just 15 games over the next four seasons. He never caught over 65 balls or had over 800 yards receiving in any one season. What was really Jones' undoing with the Jaguars was his pair of substance abuse-related arrests, which led to his release in March 2009. He is now out of the league.

6. Charles Rogers (2003)

Rogers inspired comparisons to Randy Moss both in high school (he was Tom Lemming's top recruit in the Class of 2000) and at Michigan State, where he won the 2002 Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top wideout and set a still-standing school record for career TD receptions (27).
Those comparisons only gained more credence after Rogers ran a 4.28 40-yard dash at the combine -- a blisteringly fast time for a receiver as big as he was (6-foot-3 and 220 pounds). To the Detroit Lions, it was a no-brainer to select the Saginaw, Mich., native second overall.

His drug-fueled fall from grace makes it easy to forget about the 22 receptions, 243 yards and three TDs he had during the first five games of his '03 rookie season before a broken clavicle ended Rogers' year. (He sustained the same season-ending injury on just the third play of the following season.)
Yes, injuries were a huge part of Rogers' career, which he couldn't control. But his off-the-field issues and a 36-catch NFL career is too much not to consider him a huge bust.

5. Brian Bosworth (1987)

There was a lot that made "The Boz" one of the most memorable players of the 1980s: His hatred of the NCAA, gaudy blonde Mohawk and undying love of the spotlight.
And he could play; the 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker was a two-time First Team All-American at Oklahoma. In preparation for the 1987 supplemental draft, Bosworth backed up those on-field credentials by running a 4.6 40-yard dash and bench-pressing 450 pounds.
In retrospect, unfortunately, the only substance to that style might have been the anabolic steroids that Bosworth tested positive for prior to the '87 Orange Bowl. After selecting Bosworth in the first round of the '87 supplemental draft, the Seahawks signed him to a 10-year, $11 million contract -- then the biggest one in history given to a rookie -- only for Bosworth's most memorable NFL moment to be getting trucked by Bo Jackson.
Bosworth retired after just three years due to injury.

4. Akili Smith (1999)

A one-year wonder at Oregon who threw for 3,763 yards and 30 TDs in his 1998 senior season, Smith had the size (6-foot-3 and 227 pounds), speed (4.66 seconds in the 40), smarts (a 37 on the Wonderlic test), arm and athleticism (he had played two years of minor league baseball) that made scouts drool.
Smith flew up draft boards and was selected No. 3 overall, one spot behind Donovan McNabb. Alas, a long holdout impaired his efforts to grasp Cincy’s playbook fully. It didn't help that Smith spent far too much time partying in the Queen City. He started just 17 games over four seasons with the Bengals -- throwing five TDs and 13 INTs -- before they released him in 2002.

3. Tony Mandarich (1989)

Before he was "The Incredible Bust," steroid-fueled Tony Mandarich of Michigan State was "The Incredible Bulk" -- a player who Sports Illustrated proclaimed to be "the best offensive line prospect ever." His workout numbers are still the stuff of legend: 39 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press and a mind-boggling 4.69 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
Taken second overall in the 1989 draft by the Packers, Mandarich was done in Green Bay after three years spent mostly in the throes of painkiller and alcohol addiction. While he enjoyed a nice three-year comeback with the Colts (1996–1998), it's not enough to prevent him from being one of the biggest busts in NFL history.
Making this selection even more painful for Packer fans, a running named Barry Sanders was taken one pick later by the Detroit Lions.

2. Vernon Gholston (2008)

In retrospect, the glowing (and lengthy) praise in Gholston's '08 NFL draft profile just seems silly. But at the time, most scouts really thought he was going to turn into a "legendary pass rusher."
After all, Gholston was a stud at Ohio State, registering 30.5 tackles for loss and 21.5 sacks in three seasons with the Buckeyes. And he was even more of a stud at the combine, running a 4.58 40-yard dash (blazing for a 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end), doing 37 reps on the 225-pound bench press and recording a 41-inch vertical leap.
Jets fans at Radio City Music Hall were overjoyed when their team supposedly got something right, taking Gholston sixth overall. They were decidedly less pleased after Gholston recorded zero sacks in three lackluster seasons with them. Gholston hasn't played a down since.

1. JaMarcus Russell (2007)

It's easy to forget now, but Russell was considered a freak of nature prior to being selected No. 1 overall in the 2007 draft.
NFL network analyst Mike Mayock called Russell's pre-draft workout "the best pro day I've ever seen in my life." Weighing in at 256 pounds and running the 40 in an impressive 4.8 seconds, the 6-foot-6 Russell showed off a cannon arm with which he could reportedly throw the ball 65 yards from one knee.
Of course, none of that mattered when Russell got to the league out-of-shape and looking completely lost in the pocket. In three seasons with the Raiders, Russell had more interceptions (23) than touchdowns (18) before getting the boot. Russell is widely considered the co-biggest NFL draft bust ever alongside Ryan Leaf.
He's now mounting a football comeback, but don't hold your breath for an NFL team to give Russell another chance.

For the complete slideshow of the NFL Draft Workout Warrior Busts, go to Lost Lettermen.

Eating at night doesn't have to make you fat. In fact, new research suggests potential benefits, including bigger muscles and a cranked-up metabolism:

1. More Muscle

In research published last year in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, scientists in the Netherlands discovered that consuming casein (the dominating protein in milk) after an evening workout but 30 minutes before sleep increased protein synthesis in men. (If that doesn't help pump up your guns, try one of these 5 Easy Steps to Reveal More Muscle.)

2. Faster Metabolism

A study from Florida State University found that when fit men eat a modest (150-calorie) nighttime snack consisting of protein or carbohydrates, they have a higher resting metabolic rate in the morning than when they consume nothing at all before bed. Rev your metabolism and build the body of a warrior with one of the most popular workouts in Men's Health History, now on DVD -- The New Spartacus Workout.

3. Less Hunger

Having a snack before bed may leave you less hungry in the morning and improve satiety between meals the next day, according to research from Florida State University. The type of food didn't matter, but emphasizing protein is smart because it helps you build muscle. (You are what you eat -- know The Truth About Protein.)

4. Lower Weight

Having Seinfeld's favorite food -- cereal -- may be an ideal way to end the day. In a Wayne State University study, people who ate cereal before bed lost roughly 2 pounds in 4 weeks, while people who didn’t have the cereal lost about a half pound. (Not all cereal is created equal -- Avoid these 9 Natural Cereals That Aren't.)

There Are Negative-Calorie Foods

One major calorie counting myth that circulates is that certain foods actually cause the body to expend more calories digesting them than they provide. The belief is that if you eat these foods, they will actually cause more weight loss than if you hadn't eaten them in the first place.

Reality: While there are certainly foods that provide very few calories, especially once you factor in their dietary fiber content, there are no foods that will put you in a negative calorie balance.

In order to achieve maximum results from your muscle-building or fat-loss program, taking in the right amount of calories is essential. Your calorie balance is what will dictate whether you gain or lose body weight, making it incredibly useful to track this information.

Unfortunately, there are a number of calorie counting myths that people fall for that will cost them results in the long run. By making yourself aware of these myths, you can be sure that they won't to affect your progress.

Of all the lists published by magazines throughout the year, Time's list of the 100 most influential people is one of the most respected.

The list honors global leaders, innovators and pioneers. Everyone from President Obama to Scooter Braun. And in this interconnected day and age, it shouldn't be surprising that several athletes made the cut.

What's interesting is that there were no repeats from last year, when Jeremy Lin, Tim Tebow, Novak Djokovic, Oscar Pistorius, Lionel Messi and Yani Tseng were honored.

LeBron James

The Miami Heat forward was the only athlete in the magazine's "Titans" section. New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter penned James' entry, writing, "His dedication, devotion and focus have won the admiration of fans — and his athletic peers. He’s someone anyone, in any profession, can look up to. Set the bar high for yourself, like LeBron does."

Lindsey Vonn

The 28-year-old skier landed in the "Icons" section. Danica Patrick had the honor of writing about Vonn, saying, "We can relate to each other because our sports are so similar, given the speed involved and the concentration level required. There’s an immediate level of respect when you meet someone who knows what you go through."

Mario Balotelli

The controversial Italian prodigy made the list for the first time. Gianfranco Zola, a former Italian soccer star, dispelled certain notions of Balotelli with his writeup: "From afar, people may think he’s a madman, but he isn’t. Mario is a lovely guy, very humble and very funny. I can assure people he has always been a pleasure to deal with."

Li Na

While many Americans may not be familiar with Li, she is a pioneer in China, a country where tennis is booming. Indeed, 116 million people watched as Li won last year's French Open. "That kind of exposure is crucial to our sport," wrote Chris Evert, "and it never would have happened without Li."

Like us on facebook, follow us on twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Designated as both a League of American Bicyclists Bicycle-Friendly Community and IMBA Ride Center, Harrisonburg is becoming a haven for anyone with a garage full of bikes. In a demonstration of partnership, the City of Harrisonburg teamed up with Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition to bring purpose-built bike trails of all levels to downtown Harrisonburg. In addition to the Rocktown trails, townsfolk can ride one of three epics, Massanutton Resort’s flow trails, or spend a day barely scratching the surface of the George Washington National Forest. The town even comes together to celebrate trails and trailwork during the annual Shenandoah Festival.Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition

It's been nearly 40 years since a small group of fun-loving tinkerers in Marin started racing down dirt roads on old cruiser bikes modified with fat knobby tires. Though mountain biking began as a fringe sport in the 70s, it's since evolved into an athletic outlet embraced by communities everywhere.

From the flatlands to the highlands, these top mountain bike towns are drawing riders of all kinds with amazing trail systems, bike parks, and pump tracks galore. We've called out a few classic stand-bys here -- Bend, Oregon, and Asheville, North Carolina, for example (but not Moab) -- but also found a few hidden gems that you've probably never even heard of. Click through to our slideshow to see some of our favorite places to get our tires dirty in the good ol' U.S. of A.